Gyeonggi-do Launches Nation's First 'Rural Basic Income' Initiative

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province's 'Rural Basic Income,' the first of its kind nationwide, is becoming established.

The Gyeonggi Province Rural Basic Income project provides 150,000 KRW per month in local currency for five years to each resident of rural areas to promote rural population inflow, improve residents' quality of life, and revitalize the rural economy.

Unlike the Farmer Basic Income, which is paid to farmers, the Rural Basic Income differs in that all residents who have an address and actually reside in a specific rural area are eligible. Gyeonggi Province selected Cheongsan-myeon in Yeoncheon-gun as a pilot area through a public contest at the end of last year, the first in the country.

On the 30th of last month, Gyeonggi Province paid 1 billion KRW in local currency to 3,452 residents of Cheongsan-myeon for the basic income covering March-April this year, and announced on the 14th that an additional 1 billion KRW will be paid on the 30th of this month for May-June.

The funding is shared 70% by Gyeonggi Province and 30% by Yeoncheon-gun, securing about 6.2 billion KRW in project expenses this year. Gyeonggi Province and Yeoncheon-gun plan to pay a total of 1.5 million KRW per resident of Cheongsan-myeon by the end of this year as Rural Basic Income.

A provincial official stated, "Due to concerns from the Gyeonggi Province Election Commission that promotional activities for Rural Basic Income might violate the Public Official Election Act ahead of the June local elections, the announcement of the payment was delayed," adding, "We will proceed without any setbacks so that Rural Basic Income can help solve existing rural issues such as population decline, aging, and income polarization."

Meanwhile, the province explained that the implementation of Rural Basic Income has increased the population of Cheongsan-myeon, Yeoncheon-gun. At the end of last year, when the pilot project was confirmed, Cheongsan-myeon had 3,895 residents, but as of May 30 this year, after the pilot project was introduced, the population increased by 277 (7.1%) to 4,172 residents. Regarding the inflow population by gender, 52% are female and 48% male, with age groups of 10-20 years accounting for 34.3% (95 people) and 40-50 years accounting for 31.4% (87 people).

Additionally, 12 new local currency affiliated stores such as hair salons, lodging facilities, and restaurants have been newly registered in Cheongsan-myeon, and the province expects Rural Basic Income to contribute to revitalizing the local economy.

The province plans to conduct a mid-term evaluation in 2024, the third year of the project, and if the effects are proven, expand the project mainly to myeon-level areas with a high risk of population extinction within the province (areas with a population extinction index of 0.5 or less and a nationwide myeon average resident number of 4,167 or less).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.